JPS6112326A - Steering wheel and its preparation - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a light wt. steering wheel having not only vibration resistance but also high strength and excellent torsional rigidity, by orienting a resin impregnated fiber bundle comprising continuous fibers in the axial direction of each part to form a skeketal and subsequently winding the resin impregnated fiber bundle around the skeletal at a predetermined angle to the axial direction of each part. CONSTITUTION:A line of a resin impregnated fiber bundle comprising continuous fibers are wound around the mold of a steering wheel predetermined times to form a skeletal 11 and a separate resin impregnated fiber bundle 12 comprising continuous fibers is wound around the skeletal 11 at a proper angle theta to the axial direction of a spoke part to form a steering wheel made of continuous fiber FRP. It is desirable to select the angle theta in a range of 30-60 deg.. By this constitution, the torsional rigidity of the spoke part is markedly enhanced as compared with such a case that the resin impregnated fiber bundle comprising continuous fiber is oriented only to the axial direction (direction wherein the angle theta is 0 deg.) of the spoke part.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a steering wheel made of fiber-reinforced resin (FRP), and more specifically, each fiber bundle is made of a single resin-impregnated fiber bundle made of continuous fibers. This relates to a steering wheel formed by wrapping and molding the steering wheel so that it is oriented in the same direction, and a method for manufacturing the same. Polyp-a-pyrene resin and the like are used, but since these resins alone lack strength, the interior is usually filled with an iron rod or pipe as a core. The rounding of the kernels, the weight reduction effect is small,
There was also a problem with vibration.However, recently, as described in British Patent Publication No. GB2004835, it has been reported that continuous fibers such as glass fibers and carbon fibers are coated with resins such as unsaturated polyester resins and epoxy resins. A method has been developed in which a structure of a predetermined shape is formed by wrapping a resin-impregnated fiber bundle around a suitable frame or mold. Structures made based on this method have considerable strength. Therefore, if the core of the steering wheel is similarly manufactured from a resin-impregnated fiber bundle of continuous fibers, the steering wheel will be significantly lighter because the resin-impregnated fiber bundle has a much lower density than steel. Since the resin-impregnated fiber bundle has excellent adhesion to the coating resin such as polyurethane resin, it is thought that peeling due to vibration does not occur.〇 [Problem to be solved by the invention] However, the above method can be applied as is. When a steering wheel is molded, as shown in FIG. 4, since the steering wheel 20 has a structure in which resin-impregnated fiber bundles are wound and oriented only in the same direction, when an external force is applied to the steering wheel, the ring portion 22 and Spoke part 2
There is a problem in that the amount of deformation is large because the torsional rigidity is insufficient so that the torsional torque is applied to the first part.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a continuous fiber FRP snap steering wheel that is lightweight and has excellent vibration resistance, high strength, and excellent torsional rigidity.

[Means for solving problems]

In the present invention, a resin-impregnated fiber bundle made of continuous fibers is oriented in the axial direction of each part of a ring part and a spoke part of a steering wheel to form the skeleton of a core body, and the ring parts are formed in necessary parts of the skeleton. , a steering wheel characterized in that a resin-impregnated fiber bundle of continuous fibers is wound at a predetermined angle with respect to the axial direction of each part of the spoke part.

The above-mentioned method for manufacturing a steering wheel includes forming a skeleton by orienting resin-impregnated fiber bundles of continuous fibers in the axial direction of each part, and then positioning necessary parts of the skeleton at a predetermined angle with respect to the axial direction of each part of the skeleton. It consists of winding a resin-impregnated fiber bundle of continuous fibers around the fibers.

Continuous fibers used in the present invention include conventionally known ones such as glass fibers and carbon fibers, and are not particularly limited.The thickness and number of fibers used are not particularly limited, but glass fibers are, for example, about 13 to 23 μm in diameter. things,
Carbon fibers with a diameter of about 7 to 10 μm are used.
It is preferable to use a bundle of 00 to MQOOO books.

Further, as the resin to be impregnated into the above-mentioned continuous fibers, those conventionally used for this type of material, such as epoxy resin, unsaturated polyester resin, and phenol resin, can be used.

The angle between the fibers that form the skeleton and the fiber bundle wound around the loop can be set depending on the required rigidity and the physical properties of the continuous fiber FRP. The steering wheel of the invention has a F-shaped structure in which the fibers are oriented in the axial direction of each part, which forms the skeleton of the core body, and has bending rigidity. The wrapped continuous fiber FRP has torsional rigidity, the bridge has torsional rigidity, and since the two are integrated, it is not only lightweight, but also
It has both excellent bending rigidity and excellent torsional rigidity.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described according to the drawings.

Example 1 A single resin-impregnated fiber bundle made of continuous fibers is stamped onto a steering wheel mold a predetermined number of times to form a steering wheel core having a ring portion and spoke portions. Next, as shown in FIG. 1, on the spoke part skeleton 11 made of the resin-impregnated fiber bundle formed in this way, at an appropriate angle θ with respect to the axial direction of the spoke part, a continuous fiber other than the above-mentioned one is inserted. The resin-impregnated fiber bundle 12 is wound to form a continuous fiber FRP steering wheel. It is best to set the angle θ according to the rigidity required for the spoke part and the physical properties of the continuous fiber FRP, and it is desirable to select the angle θ in the range of 50 to 60°.If the optimal setting is 0 angle θ, the spoke part Since it can be made thinner, the weight can be further reduced. With this configuration, the torsional rigidity of the spoke part is significantly improved compared to the case where the continuous fiber resin-impregnated fiber bundle is oriented only in the axial direction of the spoke part (the direction where the angle θ is 0°). Furthermore, since the FRP structure in which the fibers of the core body are oriented in the axial direction of the spoke portion bears the burden of bending stiffness, there is no decrease in bending stiffness.

・It can be applied not only to spoke parts but also to ring parts.

Example 2 As shown in FIG. 2, this example uses the continuous fiber FRP of Example 1.
In this example, a resin-impregnated fiber bundle 12 of continuous fibers is further wound around the steering wheel made of continuous fibers at an angle of 1 θ to make a steering wheel made of continuous fibers F1'LP.

If necessary, the resin-impregnated fiber bundles of continuous fibers can be further laminated alternately or continuously at an angle.
is desirably selected from a range of 20 to 45 degrees. With such a configuration, excellent rigidity can be obtained in both torsional directions. In addition to the spoke parts,
It can also be applied to ring parts, etc.

Example 3 As shown in FIG. 3, in this example, the number of fibers in the skeleton of the core body is reduced, and the fiber bundles of the skeleton are made at an angle of ±θ in the same way as in Example 2, and a continuous fiber resin-impregnated fiber bundle is made. A steering wheel made of continuous fiber FRP is constructed by laminating 12 fibers.The steering wheel is almost entirely composed of fibers forming an angle of 100 degrees with respect to the axial direction of the skeleton. The angle θ is 1
It is desirable to select from the range of 0 to 45 degrees.

With such a configuration, a continuous fiber F'RP steering wheel with excellent torsional rigidity can be obtained. [Effects of the Invention] The continuous fiber reinforced resin steering wheel of the present invention has the following features:
Since the resin-impregnated fiber bundles are further wrapped at an angle around the central skeleton of the resin-impregnated fiber bundle, it is difficult to bend the whole steering wheel made of continuous fiber FBP, which is conventional and has fibers oriented in the same direction. It also has excellent torsional rigidity without sacrificing rigidity.

Furthermore, by optimizing the orientation angle of the resin-impregnated fiber bundles, excellent torsional rigidity can be obtained, and the weight of the steering wheel can also be reduced.

This is because the bending rigidity is borne by the F-P structure in which the core fibers are oriented in the axial direction of the skeleton, and the torsional rigidity is borne by the outer continuous fiber FRP, in which the fibers are oriented at an angle. As for the fibers of the FRP skeleton, it is only necessary to use fibers that satisfy only bending rigidity, and therefore sufficient strength can be obtained with a smaller amount of fibers than in the past.

Further, the structure of the present invention can be applied not only to the steering wheel of the embodiment but also to various structures, and has a wide range of applications.

[Brief Description of the Drawings] Fig. 1 is a partial front view showing the orientation of the fibers of 9F 几P wrapped around the skeleton of Example 1, and Fig. 2 is a partial front view showing the orientation of the fibers of F' wrapped around the skeleton of Example 2. Figure 6 is a partial front view showing the orientation of the FRP fibers wound around the skeleton of Example 3. Figure 4 is a conventional continuous fiber FRP snun steering. In Figure 0, which is a schematic diagram showing the orientation of wheel fibers, 11... Spoke part skeleton made of resin-impregnated fiber bundles 12... Resin-impregnated fiber bundles 20 are wrapped around the skeleton.
・Steering wheel 21...Spoke part 22...Ring part Patent applicant: Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota Boshoku Co., Ltd., agent, patent attorney, Yumi Kaede, and 1 other person: 3If4

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A resin-impregnated fiber bundle made of continuous fibers is oriented in the axial direction of each part of the ring part and spoke part of the steering wheel to form the skeleton of the core body, and the necessary parts of the skeleton are provided with ring parts, A steering wheel characterized in that a resin-impregnated fiber bundle of continuous fibers is wound at a predetermined angle with respect to the axial direction of each part of a spoke part. (2) A single resin-impregnated fiber bundle made of continuous fibers is wound around a steering wheel mold to a predetermined thickness so that each fiber is oriented in the axial direction of each part of the ring and spoke parts to form the skeleton of the core body. A method for manufacturing a steering wheel, comprising: forming a steering wheel, and then wrapping a resin-impregnated fiber bundle of continuous fibers around necessary parts of the skeleton at a predetermined angle with respect to the axial direction of each part of the ring part and the spoke part of the skeleton.